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To understand how IBM Watson Discovery's services can help any enterprise gain business insights, it's necessary to comprehend its capabilities in detail.

One of the core assets of IBM's entire Watson program is the ability to use Artificial Intelligence (AI) to sort through masses of data to come up quickly with insights it could take a human mind much longer to perceive. Previously, data analysis required structured data, such as a database, to provide the input from which insights might be gleaned, but Watson can also handle unstructured data (e.g., from videos, emails, and text documents). This ability means at least one of Watson's core products, called Discovery, has the advantage of being able to use as input data from just about anywhere.

This could be handy, but there's some confusion to wade through at the top. "Discovery" refers to more than one thing. First of all, it's an IBM Watson product name with its own web page. On this web page, IBM tells us there are four subproducts under the Discovery product heading: Discovery, Natural Language Understanding, Discovery News, and Knowledge Studio.

Watson Discovery

Where it gets a little tricky is that Discovery, the subproduct, isn't quite a product; it's a service that IBM defines as an engine. IBM describes it as "a cognitive search and content analytics engine that you can add to applications to identify patterns, trends and actionable insights to drive better decision-making."

What Discovery does is help you define what the data collection you want to use for gaining insights will actually be. It doesn't help that Watson Discovery's main function, proclaimed right on its web page, is to help users "build a cognitive search and content analytics engine." It's already an engine, isn't it? So what IBM is inelegantly expressing is that the Discovery engine will help you build a "discovery engine" of your own. All you have to do is figure out how to use the service.

If you're just starting out, the Discovery Knowledge Base Search page shows how to search existing data collections for answers to questions. It can be useful to consult this page for an overview understanding of what results you can hope to achieve. Of course, the "garbage in, garbage out" concept that has been with us at least since the ÃƒÂ¢Ã¢â€šÂ¬Ã‹Å“70s also applies here. You'll need to use Discovery to define your data universe before you can expect to ascertain anything useful about your particular business.

In Discovery parlance, this data universe is a "collection." You can set up environments that contain multiple collections. Each environment is both a domain for particular queries and a "service instance" that also contains the metadata about all the data sources you'll be using. Each collection has a composition called a "configuration" that can either use its own default structure or a custom one you build yourself.

Watson as a whole is a platform that uses REpresentational State Transfer (REST) APIs to provide its services within the IBM Bluemix PaaS, (which IBM renamed "IBM Cloud" early in November). In this wider world, each knowledge set that any Watson app uses is limited to what data the user provides, and this data entity is called a "corpus" (plural "corpra"). Each data domain is treated as a different corpus, which enables any one API to do its work across multiple corpra without affecting any data results.

This means Watson Discovery service, in addition to being a product and an engine, can also be described as an API suite that can "ingest, enrich, index, and search structured and unstructured data." (The IBM Watson Discovery Explorer page contains a list of APIs for its common functions. For some tips on using Watson APIs, please see David Shirey's recent "How to Get Started with Watson APIs" article.)

By using the tools provided via the Watson Developer Console Services page, a developer can create a data collection and have it "ingest" data. This consumption can be achieved in several ways. First by specifying JSON, HTML, PDF, MS Word, or other files as part of the collection. Second, by automating the process with Ingestion API calls. The third way is by using the IBM Cloud Data Crawler, a command-line utility within the PaaS for specifying documents within existing repositories. After that, it's just a matter of setting up a filter parameter (i.e., what you're looking for), using Natural Language in the query parameter to specify other filters, and letting Discovery do its thing. Discovery returns data that conforms to your filters and issues a confidence rating as to how well Discovery's algorithms judged each result to fit those filters. Users can then further query this new, smaller data set or change parameters and do a new search.

This process should not be confused with "training" Watson, which is the process by which a particular iteration of Watson is taught its basic operating parameters for a particular environment or industry. That's handled by the IBM Digital Experience Manager. The most recent updates and common FAQs on using Watson in the IBM Cloud environment are available at the IBM Cloud Blog page.

Some additional useful features of Discovery include user authentication, versioning, environment controls, the ability to add documents to (or update/replace docs within) existing collections, and other administrative tools.

It may be, though, that some data you want to analyze needs to come from sources you don't already have sitting in a repository, like social media, news feeds, or who knows what. Or you might want to be able to use Discovery's assets more easily. That's when the other products in the Discovery group might be worth a look.

Natural Language Understanding

Watson Natural Language Understanding (NLU) service was launched earlier this year. Based on IBM's former product, AlchemyLanguage, NLU is a standalone Watson service that enables analysis of text and extraction of metadata from unstructured content. NLU keeps AlchemyLanguage's core features but uses a simplified API and runs natively on the Bluemix/IBM Cloud platform, so users don't have to be experts to get started.

NLU analyzes textual data, from which it can extract information about "entities, relationships, concepts, semantic roles, categories, sentiment, emotion, and other metatdata." Like Discovery, NLU lets users feed text into the API itself or specify a repository or other source (e.g., emails, social media) to examine. In addition, users can build custom models for NLU to use as comparisons for sorting out shades of meaning from language particular to their business or industry by using Watson Knowledge Studio (WKS) (see more below). Such customization can improve extraction accuracy.

NLU also provides a set of enrichment features and can be used in conjunction with other Watson services to build solutions for complex situations.

Watson Discovery News

Another type of unstructured data is news feeds. Over the past two years, it sometimes seems there's more news than ever, and some of it is likely to be pertinent to your current or future business plans. Discovery News provides an API that can scan large amounts of unstructured general news across the web and extract information about overall trends. Designed to be simple, Discovery News' API lets users create multiple queries in minutes and scan either web news in general or just the existing collection of 60 days of the most recent news that comes prepackaged with the Discovery service.

The 60-day summary includes items that have already been categorized, been analyzed for syntax and sentiment, and had the major ideas and relationships extracted. Viewing results from this limited domain gives users practice at using the service and helps them learn how to structure their own queries and list of information sources to improve future inquiries.

Discovery News queries can be customized to include or exclude specific news sources, specify topics or date ranges for search, search for specific concepts, and, like Discovery, be pointed to a user's own data sets, documents, and repositories. The API can handle reviewing literally millions of individual data sources. Via Discovery's query language, users can standardize the queries to work with any kind of data, determine patterns and trends from an entire specified data set, or single out a particular entity (e.g., person, product, company) for constant monitoring and reporting of news items related to that target.

Watson Knowledge Studio

That brings us to the final offering in the Discovery stable, Watson Knowledge Studio (WKS), also a cloud-based service. It's probably easiest to visualize WKS as a workbench of tools that facilitates annotation, which is the addition of new metadata to a document or result set. WKS lets users make annotations of different types, such as machine learning (i.e., establish pointers to what should be the most relevant data), rule-based (i.e., set down specific patterns to look for, principally over a large collection), and //medium.com/@IdTypeThat/pre-annotation-dictionary-issues-in-watson-knowledge-studio-9f5b4977d7ff">pre-annotation (i.e., provide a dictionary of specialized terms, preferably by automated means).

WKS helps developers and subject-matter experts (SMEs) collaborate on customizing annotation components for particular uses. Annotations can facilitate tasks such as specifying in advance such concepts as term instances and relationships between terms and concepts that should be given particular weight in searches. This process is based on use of "knowledge artifacts," which more simply means existing knowledge already learned that applies to a particular search or situation and has, most likely, been entered into a text database by a human.

WKS lets developers and SMEs share an integrated UI, development environment, knowledge artifacts, an annotation-building tool, and training processes to improve coordination between those two groups and enhance annotation accuracy. (Chrome is the recommended team browser.) This can help train Watson in the language of a particular business or industry, improve annotation team productivity, enhance the quality of annotations over time, and facilitate arbitration of conflicts between SMEs. Once created, developers can deploy annotation components to Discovery, NLU, or IBM Watson Explorer.

Analyzing Your Own Content

Although it's not always clear from IBM's own web sources about the Discovery product group, itÃƒÂ¢Ã¢â€šÂ¬Ã¢â€žÂ¢s a collection of services that, whether you use all of them or not, can open a door to the kind of data analysis your enterprise may previously have only dreamed about. Discovery can provide a benefit to your enterprise by helping make your planners and other experts aware of pertinent information either from internal data or from the nearly limitless sources of data that are proliferating around us daily.

John Ghrist has been a journalist, programmer, and systems manager in the computer industry since 1982. He has covered the market for IBM i servers and their predecessor platforms for more than a quarter century and has attended more than 25 COMMON conferences. A former editor-in-chief with Defense Computing and a senior editor with SystemiNEWS, John has written and edited hundreds of articles and blogs for more than a dozen print and electronic publications. He is currently CEO of John Ghrist Agency, a marketing communications firm for technology companies. You can reach him at [email protected].

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Everyone knows that cyber security is important, but getting started on the road to data protection and compliance can be confusing and intimidating. Understanding common vulnerabilities helps you focus your attention and resources on the areas that need the most help. We all want “best-practice” security, but what are top organizations doing to achieve and maintain it? Watch this webinar to learn the details about how to develop the seven habits that are part of daily life for secure organizations. You’ll learn how to: - Break the Ostrich Syndrome - Develop a Security Policy - Assess Current Standing - Perform Security Event Logging and Review - Use “Best of Breed” Technologies - Monitor for Ongoing Compliance - Plan for the Future This on-demand webinar examines what each of these habits means to IBM i, and helps you make sure that you don’t become the next security statistic.

An Introduction to PCI Compliance on IBM Power Systems

"From the world's largest corporations to small Internet stores, compliance with the PCI Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) is vital for all merchants who accept credit cards, online or offline, because nothing is more important than keeping your customer’s payment card data secure.” — PCI Security Standards Council Complying with the PCI standard is a normal part of doing business in today’s credit-centric world. But, PCI applies to multiple platforms. The challenge becomes how to map the general PCI requirements to a specific platform, such as IBM i. And, more importantly, how can you maintain—and prove—compliance? Watch this webinar to understand: - How PCI requirements relate to IBM i systems - IBM i-specific barriers to compliance - How PowerTech security solutions help you fulfill PCI requirements, meet compliance guidelines, and satisfy auditors You’ll leave with the knowledge and confidence you need to evaluate PCI compliance requirements and prepare your IBM i system for today’s regulatory challenges.

Implementing Multiple Layers of Defense

Your IBM i holds a massive amount of data. In most organizations, that data constitutes a mission-critical and high-value asset.

How do you adequately protect the data residing on your IBM i, given its value to your organization? IBM has provided us with many options for protecting our data, but it’s now always clear how to select and implement the best options for your circumstances.

This recorded webinar describes IBM i’s different data security options, along with implementation recommendations and tips for getting started. Carol Woodbury, one of the world’s top IBM i security experts, also provides considerations to help you determine how many layers of security are right for your organization.

Data Breaches: Is IBM i Really at Risk?

IBM i is known for its security, but this OS could be more vulnerable than you think. Although Power Servers often live inside the safety of the perimeter firewall, the risk of suffering a data leak or data corruption remains high. Watch noted IBM i security expert Robin Tatam as he discusses common ways that this supposedly “secure” operating system may actually be vulnerable and who the culprits might be.

Easy Mobile Development

Watch this on-demand webinar and learn how to rapidly and easily deploy mobile apps to your organization – even when working with legacy RPG code! IBM Champion Scott Klement will demonstrate how to: - Develop RPG applications without mobile development experience - Deploy secure applications for any mobile device - Build one application for all platforms, including Apple and Android - Extend the life and reach of your IBM i (aka iSeries, AS400) platform You’ll see examples from customers who have used our products and services to deliver the mobile applications of their dreams, faster and easier than they ever thought possible! Watch this Webinar Now!

Profound UI: Unlock True Modernization from your IBM i Enterprise

Modern, web-based applications can make your Enterprise more efficient, connected and engaged. This session will demonstrate how the Profound UI framework is the best and most native way to convert your existing RPG applications and develop new modern applications for your business. Additionally, you will learn how you can address modernization across your Enterprise, including databases and legacy source code, with Profound Logic. We will demonstrate how Profound UI: - Goes beyond simple screen-scraping to truly modernize your RPG applications - Uses RPG Open Access and your own RPG code and development talent to modernize - Supports rapid development with an easy-to-use, drag-and-drop Designer - Integrates with our on-the-fly modernization, mobile development, and Enterprise Modernization solutions

5 New and Unique Ways to Use the IBM i Audit Journal

High availability for IBM i has been a hot topic in 2017, jumping 20% from our 2016 survey to take the #2 seat on IT priority lists just behind cybersecurity. And no surprise with these two topics so closely tied to your most valuable asset: your irreplaceable business data. With major airline outages last year and the recent ransomware attacks, you must be asking yourself: am I doing everything I can to protect my organization’s data? Tune in as our panel of IBM i high availability experts—Tom Huntington, Matt Staddler, and Cole Ragland—deliver lively discussion around the top high availability issues of today, including:

Why companies don’t test role swaps when they know they should

Whether high availability in the cloud makes sense for IBM i users

Why some organizations don’t have high availability yet

How to get high availability up and running at your organization

High availability considerations for today’s security concerns

There are no do-overs when it comes to your data. Once it’s gone, it’s gone...unless you have a data replication layer in place to protect it. Learn the value of these strategic solutions and how you can implement them in a hurry—watch now!

Profound.js 2.0: Extend the Power of Node to your IBM i Applications

In this Webinar, we'll demonstrate how Profound.js 2.0 enables you to easily adopt Node.js in your business, and to take advantage of the many benefits of Node, including access to a much larger pool of developers for IBM i and access to countless reusable open source code packages on npm (Node Package Manager). You will see how Profound.js 2.0 allows you to:

Make Modern Apps You'll Love with Profound UI & Profound.js

Roses are red, your UIs are green...It's time to make your apps proud to be seen! Whether you have green screens or a drab GUI, your outdated apps can benefit from modern source code, modern GUIs, and modern tools. Profound Logic's Alex Roytman and Liam Allan are here to show you how Free-format RPG and Node.js make it possible to deliver applications your whole business will love.In this webinar, you'll learn how you can use both Profound UI and Profound.js to:

Transform legacy RPG code to modern free-format RPG and Node.js

Deliver truly modern application interfaces with Profound UI

Extend your RPG applications to include Web Services and NPM packages with Node.js

This webinar will include a live product demonstration and Q&A with the presenters.

Download and watch today!

2017 IBM i Marketplace Revealed

IBM i is one of technology’s best-kept secrets, with little information available about what IBM i users are doing on this server. Even companies that use this technology struggle to explain to their own teams what IBM i stands for and who else is using it. The IBM i Marketplace Survey—now in its 3rd year—was designed to solve this problem. Watch this on-demand webinar for the exclusive results of the 2017 survey. IBM i Champion Tom Huntington is joined by a panel of technology experts to discuss year-over-year trends and new insights. The panel will discuss:

What other platforms do you run alongside IBM i?

What programming and Open Source languages are you using?

What are your top IT issues?

What version of POWER and what OS level is most prevalent?

Are you expanding your usage of IBM i?

Is IBM i a good ROI?

The expert panel will provide industry insight and comments about the results. When the webinar concludes, you’ll get access to the full results.

Accelerating Programmer Productivity with Sequel

Most business intelligence tools are just that: tools, a means to an end but not an accelerator. Yours could even be slowing you down. But what if your BI tool didn't just give you a platform for query-writing but also improved programmer productivity? Watch the recorded webinar to see how Sequel:

Makes creating complex results simple

Eliminates barriers to data sources

Increases flexibility with data usage and distribution

Accelerated productivity makes everyone happy, from programmer to business user.

Business Intelligence is Changing: Make Your Game Plan

Everyone wants a piece of your business data. But keeping up with data access requests in the era of constantly growing data is a challenge. As a result, your IT department can be overwhelmed, inundated, and constantly needing to play catch-up. It’s time to develop a strategy that will help you meet your informational challenges head-on. Watch the webinar to learn how to set your IT department up for business intelligence success in 2018. You’ll learn how the right data access tool will help you:

Access IBM i data faster

Deliver useful information to executives and business users

Empower users with secure data access

Ready to make your game plan and finally keep up with your data access requests?

Controlling Insider Threats on IBM i

Let’s face facts: servers don’t hack other servers. Despite the avalanche of regulations, news headlines remain chock full of stories about data breaches, all initiated by insiders or intruders masquerading as insiders. User profiles are often duplicated or restored and are rarely reviewed for the appropriateness of their current configuration. This increases the risk of the profile being able to access data without the intended authority or having privileges that should be reserved for administrators. Watch noted security expert Robin Tatam as he discusses a new approach for onboarding new users on IBM i and best-practices techniques for managing and monitoring activities after they sign on.

Don't Just Settle for Query/400...

There’s a better way to run your queries. With an advanced query tool like Sequel Data Access, you can deliver the IBM i data your organization needs quickly and efficiently—without the hang-ups. In this session, we’ll address common frustrations with Query/400, discuss major data access and distribution trends, and help you understand what to look for in a more advanced query tool. Plus, you’ll learn how a tool like Sequel lightens IT’s load by:

Accessing real-time data, so you can make real-time decisions

Providing run-time prompts, so users can help themselves

Delivering instant results in Microsoft Excel and PDF, without the wait

Watch the webinar and learn why you shouldn’t just settle for Query/400.

How to Manage Documents the Easy Way

What happens when your company depends on an outdated document management strategy? Everything is harder. Capturing documents means scanning and filing—which takes you away from tasks that actually matter to the business. Managing documents means sorting through an endless sea of shared folders or filing cabinets—and sometimes documents can’t be found. Distributing documents means following a frustrating, manual process for routing documents internally and sending them to vendors and customers. You don’t need to stick with status quo anymore. Watch the webinar to learn how to put effective document management into practice and:

Capture documents faster, instead of wasting everyone’s time

Manage documents easily, so you can always find them

Distribute documents automatically, and move on to the next task

Lessons Learned from the AS/400 Breach

Get actionable info to avoid becoming the next cyberattack victim. In “Data breach digest—Scenarios from the field,” Verizon documented an AS/400 security breach. Whether you call it AS/400, iSeries, or IBM i, you now have proof that the system has been breached. Watch IBM i security expert Robin Tatam give an insightful discussion of the issues surrounding this specific scenario. Robin will also draw on his extensive cybersecurity experience to discuss policies, processes, and configuration details that you can implement to help reduce the risk of your system being the next victim of an attack.

Monitor VIOS (and AIX) from Your IBM i

Virtual I/O Server (VIOS) runs on AIX and allows you to share input/output resources across logical partitions. The health of your VIOS server is critical to the performance of all your Power server partitions, so monitoring it is a must. Our 2017 IBM i Marketplace Survey Results uncovered a cool trend: an increasing number of IBM i shops are running AIX instances alongside IBM i on Power Systems servers. We like to see these systems playing nicely together on the same server, though it does shine a spotlight on shared resources. During this 30-minute recording, our experts demonstrate the new VIOS and AIX monitoring capabilities in Robot Monitor. You’ll learn about:

The top AIX metrics that impact VIOS

Real-time monitoring with dashboard displays

Threshold and notification options

Identifying trends to better allocate resources

With VIOS/AIX running alongside IBM i, you need visibility into your entire Power environment. Watch now to see how Robot Monitor can get you there!

Overwhelmed by Operating Systems?

You’re responsible for looking after Windows, Linux, AIX, and VIOS, but you worry that you don’t understand their complexities well enough to make your job effective—or easy. No problem! Simplify the management of multiple operating systems and applications without becoming experts in each area. In this 30-minute recorded webinar, our experts demonstrate how you can:

Manage multiple platforms from a central location

View monitoring results in a single pane of glass on your desktop or mobile device

This presentation includes a live demo of Network Server Suite and shows how easy monitoring multiple operating systems and applications can be using point-and-click technology.

Real-Time Disk Monitoring with Robot Monitor

When IBM i disk space pulls its notorious disappearing act, you don’t have time to waste figuring out how the trick is done. You need to know when disk space starts to disappear and where it has gone before system performance and productivity start to suffer. Looking behind the curtain to keep a close eye on disk space—especially in a multi-partition environment—can have its challenges, but every good admin can have an ace up their sleeve. Our experts will show you how Robot Monitor can help you pinpoint exactly when your auxiliary storage starts to disappear and why, so you can start taking a proactive approach to disk monitoring and analysis. You’ll also get insight into:

The main sources of disk consumption

How to monitor temporary storage and QTEMP objects in real time

How to monitor objects and libraries in real time and near-real time

How to track long-term disk trends

Start seeing through the sleight of hand and get instant visibility into disk usage. Add advance warning of potential threats and—abracadabra!—you’ll reduce the risk of disk space depletion and curb the sudden flurry of activity to clean things up.

Stop Re-keying Data Between IBM I and Other Applications

Still following manual processes for extracting and transferring data across platforms? You’re not alone. Many business still depend on RPG for their daily business processes and report generation. And that leads to a lot of manual effort. Wouldn’t it be nice if you could stop re-keying data between IBM i and other applications? Or if you could stop replicating data and start processing orders faster? Or what if you could automatically extract data from existing reports instead of re-keying? It’s all possible. Watch this webinar to learn about:

The data dilemma

3 ways to stop re-keying data

Data automation in practice

Plus, you’ll see a demonstration of how data automation software from HelpSystems will help you finally stop re-keying data.

Protecting your organization from cyberthreats has never been more important—or more difficult. IT pros have many tactics to choose from, but time (and budgets!) are not unlimited. The key is prioritizing risks and identifying the most effective ways to mitigate the danger. In 2018, HelpSystems surveyed more than 600 IT and cybersecurity professionals to find out what security exploits loom largest and what strategies they’re turning to for protection. In this on-demand webinar, our team of cybersecurity security experts analyzes results. You’ll learn about:

Security strategies your peers are most interested in implementing

How managers and executives prioritize security

Who is responsible for cybersecurity at organizations around the world

Where IT pros turn for assistance with security

You'll also get practical tips for using this data to drive cybersecurity conversations at your organization.

The Top Five RPG Open Access Myths....BUSTED!

When it comes to IBM® Rational® Open Access: RPG Edition (also known as RPG Open Access), there are still many misconceptions - especially where application modernization is concerned!

In this Webinar, we'll address some of the biggest myths about RPG Open Access, including:

The RPG language is outdated and impractical for modernizing applications

Modernizing with RPG OA is the equivalent to "screen scraping"

This Webinar features IBM i expert Alison Butterill, and Profound Logic’s Brian May and Alex Roytman.

Watch the On-demand Webinar Now!

Time to Remove the Paper from Your Desk and Become More Efficient

Do your users keep paperwork on their desk until it's processed? Are people constantly removing documents from filing cabinets? What happens when your company depends on an outdated document management strategy? Too much paper is wasted—approximately 1,000 pages per month per worker. Attempts to locate documents in endless filing cabinets drive your employees crazy. And distributing documents to customers, vendors, and business partners is expensive and takes up far too much time. These are just three common reasons why it might be time for your company to implement a paperless document management system. Watch the webinar to learn more and discover how easy it can be to:

Capture

Manage

And distribute documents digitally

Plus, our experts will provide a live demonstration of how implementing a document management solution will quickly solve your paper-based problems, so you can be more

IBM i: It’s Not Just AS/400

IBM’s Steve Will talks AS/400, POWER9, cognitive systems, and everything in between

Are there still companies that use AS400? Of course!

IBM i was built on the same foundation.Watch this recorded webinar with IBM i Chief Architect Steve Will and IBM Power Champion Tom Huntington to gain a unique perspective on the direction of this platform, including:

TRY the One Package That Solves All Your Document Design and Printing Challenges

Produce bar code labels, electronic forms, ad hoc reports, and RFID tags – without programming! MarkMagic is the only document design and print solution that combines report writing, WYSIWYG label and forms design, and conditional printing in one integrated product. Why support 5 different products, when you can do it all with MarkMagic?

Backup and Recovery on IBM i: Your Strategy for the Unexpected

Disaster protection is vital to every business. Yet, it often consists of patched together procedures that are prone to error. From automatic backups to data encryption to media management, Robot automates the routine (yet often complex) tasks of iSeries backup and recovery, saving you time and money and making the process safer and more reliable. Automate your backups with the Robot Backup and Recovery Solution. Key features include: - Simplified backup procedures - Easy data encryption - Save media management - Guided restoration - Seamless product integration Make sure your data survives when catastrophe hits.Try the Robot Backup and Recovery Solution FREE for 30 days.

Manage IBM i Messages by Exception with Robot

Managing messages on your IBM i can be more than a full-time job if you have to do it manually. Messages need a response and resources must be monitored—often over multiple systems and across platforms. How can you be sure you won’t miss important system events? Automate your message center with the Robot Message Management Solution. Key features include: - Automated message management - Tailored notifications and automatic escalation - System-wide control of your IBM i partitions - Two-way system notifications from your mobile device - Seamless product integration Keep your critical applications and data available. Try the Robot Message Management Solution FREE for 30 days.

MS Office Connector for Query/400...FREE Trial!

NGS' Qport Office enables Windows users to run IBM Query/400 queries to: - Create and update Excel spreadsheets and Access databases - Create Word documents - Send to Windows screen and PC printers No query conversion is required. Works with i5/OS V5R1 & above. Installs in minutes! If you don’t have a budget to replace IBM Query/400, but want your users to have one click enhanced output of their queries.... Request the online license agreement and product download instructions today! Offer good through December 31, 2016.

Control and Monitor User Access from Desktop PCs (ODBC, FTP)

Protect your company by monitoring network traffic to your IBM i servers with the industry-leading exit program, PowerTech Network Security. Without visibility into IBM i's exit points, your users could be viewing, changing, or even deleting sensitive data—and you wouldn’t know! Network Security lets you monitor and control access to over 30 exit points, including:

ACO MONITOR Manages your IBM i 24/7 and Notifies You When Your IBM i Needs Assistance!

More than a paging system - ACO MONITOR is a complete systems management solution for your Power Systems running IBM i. Managing the complexities of today's operating systems, business applications, and networks challenges even the most knowledgeable IT professionals. The cost to an enterprise of unplanned downtime, loss of human expertise during sick leave or vacation, and system/application or environmental failure can be devastating. ACO MONITOR manages your Power System 24/7, uses advanced technology (like two-way messaging) to notify on-duty support personnel, and responds to complex problems before they reach critical status.